


Bella Is Not Impressed

by AriDesert



Category: Good Omens (TV), Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alya starts checking her sources, Bella cares now, Bella's first Akuma, No beta we go in like a man - unprepared and useless, Protective Crowley, a bit more salt in chapter 2, bella: oh yeah. it's all coming together, mild salt, mostly Bella just doesn't care, ooo first crossover fic, tags to be updated
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2020-11-28 06:03:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20961689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AriDesert/pseuds/AriDesert
Summary: Bella Rose transfers to a new school in a new country... suffice it to say she is Not Impressed and would like to go home.





	1. The New Girl

**Author's Note:**

> So... yeah, I did a Good Omens/Miraculous Ladybug crossover. Mostly cause Bella is my GO oc and she's perfect for the "unimpressed and unaffected by classmate claiming fame" thing. After all, her uncles are an angel and a demon.  
Also I decided that Crowley runs a gardening blog so he can show off his plants without actually having people interact with them.

Bella sighed as she stood in front of her new school, the Françoise Dupont High. Considering the Akuma victims mostly came from this school, and Bella found out that they had all come from the class she had been assigned to, she was less than thrilled to be going there to say the least. But, her parents had been offered excellent jobs here and while the knew and trusted all the people Bella had wanted to stay with, they hadn’t known how long they’d be in France for the jobs and had decided that the best thing would be to bring her along. 

Bella sighed again and made her way inside with the other students, finding the principal’s office and meeting her homeroom teacher, Miss Bustier. They talked for a little bit, Mr. Damocles giving her a little speech about the reputation of the school and how they expected great things of her. It was rather boring if Bella were being honest. Miss Bustier also managed to get in a bit about how she shouldn’t hesitate to tell a teacher if she saw someone being bullied or if she needed help with anything. 

Miss Bustier walked her to the classroom and introduced her to the class. They all greeted her cheerfully when Miss Bustier prompted them to and the girl in the front row waved for Bella to sit next to her. Bella hesitated, unsure if she could keep from laughing at the girl’s hair. It looked like she was wearing _ sausages _ for someone’s sake. But a quick scan of the room showed that the seat next to sausage girl was the only open one left. Bella sighed, again, and resolved _ not _ to look at the sausages. 

“Hi! My name’s Lila, welcome to Dupont High!” 

Bella smiled politely, _ not _ looking at her and whispered “I’m Bella,” before the bell rang and class started. 

Bella was fine until lunch. She had managed to stay away from Lila’s sausages and bursting into laughter. Now she was out in the courtyard, picking at her lunch and texting Ley-Ley, giggling madly when he reacted to the picture she sent of Lila’s hair the same way she had. 

Ley-Ley: **What on earth is her hair??? Does she purposefully style it to look like ** ** _sausages???_ **

Bella: **I don’t know! Honestly I’ve been avoiding looking straight at her so I don’t bust out laughing in her face.**

Ley-Ley: **Well if she does I’m honestly impressed that she has the guts to wear it in public.**

“Hey! You’re Bella, right?” Bella looked up to see Lila with another girl, this one with normal hair, flannel and glasses. The girl with the glasses was the one who had spoken. “I’m Alya, I run the Ladyblog and the school newspaper. Anyway, I wanted to introduce you to Lila, the girl you sit next to in class. You know, be welcoming and make friends and all. Also, you mind giving me an interview after school today? Or maybe now?” 

Bella considered Alya for a minute then shrugged, “Sure, can do one now, why not.”

Alya squealed and whipped out her phone and started recording.

So, we don’t actually know much about you Miss New Girl. As of right now we know that you’re a transfer from England and your name is Bella Rose. What made you choose to transfer to our lovely school in the middle of the year?” 

Bella shrugged, “My parents we offered really good jobs out here and decided that the best thing to do would be to bring me along because they didn’t know how long they’d be here.”

“Ooh and what do your parents do, pray tell?” 

“My dad’s a police officer, so really it was more like he was transferred here, and my mom’s a blogger. More specifically, she’s a garden blogger.” Bella grinned, “Actually, she and my uncle are two of the most popular gardening blogs in London. They have quite the friendly rivalry.” 

“Oh, gardening can be such a relaxing hobby,” Lila spoke up, “and good for the soul. Even if it is a bit dirty. Actually, I remember once when I was in London I met A.J. Crowley. He wasn’t very popular back then, but we stumbled across each other in a community garden I think.” 

Bella raised an eyebrow, knowing full well that Ley-Ley had long been popular, probably from the time she and this Lila girl were infants.

Bella: **Hey Ley-Ley. Have you ever met sausage girl?**

Ley-Ley: **Nope, never. Why?**

Bella: **No reason, just wondering**

“Bella? Are you listening?” Alya waved her hand in front of Bella’s face. 

“Hm? Oh, yeah, that’s cool.” Bella hadn’t really been listening, but she shrugged mentally. As long as she wasn’t hurting anyone or spreading disastrous lies, Bella didn’t see any reason to care very much.

The girls stared at Bella in shock for a moment before Alya recovered and finished the interview. Lila opened her mouth to say something else, but the bell signaling lunch was over rang and they all went back to class, Bella once again ignoring Lila.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk where I'm gonna go with this, but I'm definitely off to write another bit right now, so that should be out soon :D


	2. Lunch Time Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien tries to get Bella to promise not to tell on Lila, however Bella is Not Having It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahahahaha remember last month when I said the next part would be out soon?  
Anyway I want to apologize in advance for any typos, it's late and I can't really see my keyboard.

“And that’s how I ended up saving a litter of stray kittens from a Southern Smooth snake”

Bella rolled her eyes as the latest of Lila’s tall tales reached her ears from where she was sitting surrounded by her faithful listeners. 

“That’s bull. Southern Smooth snakes are in _ southern _ France. It’s literally in their name.”

“I know I’ve already said it a lot,” Marinette started from her seat across the table, “but I’m _ so _ glad there’s someone else here who realizes that Lila is lying.” 

Bella shrugged, “Honestly Mari, um, full offence to Alya and the others, but it’s not even that hard to tell she’s lying.” 

Marinette sagged a little and Bella instantly felt a pang of guilt. She hadn’t meant to make her only friend in the country sad. But she was right, the things Lila tried to sell as the One and Only Truth were quite frankly ridiculous and Bella couldn’t believe anyone bought it. 

“I know,” Marinette grumbled in frustration, “no one will notice the glaring holes in her stories and I can’t even get Alya to fact check any of them.” 

Bella was patting Marinette’s arm when Adrien sat down at their table. “Hey, I heard you guys talking about Lila.”

Bella didn’t miss the way Marinette heaved a sigh and scooted away from her crush. Which was weird considering how hyped she’d been at the idea of sitting together in class. Bella also didn’t miss the mumbled “I didn’t tell her.” aimed towards Adrien. 

“You mean the Liar?” Bella asked bluntly, noting with interest the way Adrien flinched. 

“You haven’t told anyone about her lies, have you?” 

Bella shrugged and folded her arms, “I haven’t seen any reason to yet, and quite honestly I have a bet going with my uncle about how long it’ll take before her Faithful Listeners catch on a hole.” 

Adrien but his utensils down, frowning slightly. “You shouldn’t tell anyone about her lies.” 

Bella raised her eyebrows. “No one, not even if I have a good reason to?” 

Adrien shook his head. “If you tell on her there’s a risk she’d be Akumatized, and no one wants that.” 

Marinette deflated more and Bella scowled. “No. If I have a good reason to tell on her, be it that her lie is spreading actually _ harmful _ information or that her lie is causing someone to feel bad enough to be Akumatized, then I will.” 

Adrien started to argue but Bella cut him off. “From what I’ve seen of Paris, _ everyone _ is at risk of becoming an Akuma. Even those of us right here at this table. I _ will not, _ enable _ anyone _ to be a manipulative bully just on the _ off chance _ that they’ll be forced to show their true colors.”

Bella glared at Adrien, daring him to argue. He didn’t. But he did huff and leave the table. Marinette lightly kicked Bella’s leg under the table, pointing to the other side of the room when she had Bella’s attention. Apparently the group had heard at least part of what Bella had said and were staring at them. Bella couldn’t quite read Lila’s expression, but everyone else’s was clear. They were all confused as to who the manipulative bully Bella mentioned was. 

Bella sighed and turned away. “Just ignore them. If they want to know they’ll have to tear themselves away from their precious darling and ask.” 

Marinette and Bella finished their lunch in silence, keenly aware of the rest of the class throwing puzzled looks their way. Marinette kept Bella in the lunchroom for a minute after the bell rang and everyone had filtered back to class.

“Can I talk to you after school?” 

Bella agreed, wondering what Marinette wanted to talk about. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

After school let out Bella waited for Marinette by the gate. She knew that Marinette’s bakery wasn’t that far from school and the two of them had agreed to talk there during a lull in class. Bella still didn’t really know what Marinette wanted to talk about, but the way she twisted her hands and wouldn’t look Bella in the face made her worried. 

She greeted Marinette’s parents when they got to the bakery and happily munched on the pastry Mr. Dupain had given her on the way up to Marinette’s room. 

Marinette sat in her desk chair, motioning for Bella to sit on the bed. Bella toed her shoes off and sat cross-legged on the bed.

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” 

Marinette chewed her lip, obviously finding it hard to start. Bella knew what that was like. 

“Does it have to do with what we were talking about at lunch?” 

Marinette nodded and Bella rolled her head back, thinking about which part of their conversation could have sparked this. 

“What’s the biggest word in your head right now?” 

Marinette brought her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. “Butterfly.” 

Bella felt a knot start twisting itself into her stomach. That word and Marinette’s body language were Not Good together. She started to ask another question, but it seemed that was all Marinette needed to get started. 

“I was almost Akumatized. In the bathroom, Lila’s first day back at school.” 

That knot moved up to Bella’s heart and started burning. She had to remind herself to calm down before she got angry enough to attract a butterfly of her own. 

“I knew she was lying, and she threatened me. Said she would take away all my friends.” 

Bella flexed her hands, biting her lip to keep herself from pointing out that Lila had pretty much already accomplished that. 

“Does Adrien know about that part?” Bella struggled to keep her voice even.

Marinette shook her head, “I couldn’t tell him,” she whispered. “Because Lila threatened to take him away from me too. He made me promise not to expose her. Said it wouldn’t be a good example and it was okay as long as we knew and she wasn’t hurting anyone. He said exposing her wouldn’t make her a better person.” 

Bella sucked in a breath. “Mari, I hate to say this cause I know how much you care about Adrien, but that is a steaming pile of bs. It isn’t your job to make sure Lila becomes a better person and all you’re doing by not calling her out is telling her that it’s okay to walk all over you.” 

Marinette curled up tighter, tears welling up in her eyes. “But what about the chance she’ll get Akumatized?” 

Bella leapt off the bed and went to pull her over to the bed where Bella gently gathered Marinette into her arms, rubbing soothing circles on her back. “Just like I said at lunch, allowing and enabling someone to manipulate their way into ruining someone’s life, _ your _life is in _ no way _ excused by the _ possibility _ of Lila being Akumatized.” 

Marinette nodded, burying her face in Bella’s neck to hide her tears. Bella rocked them back and forth, rubbing Marinette’s back and humming her favorite tune. Some time passed before either of them spoke again, content to simply rock back and forth. 

“Mari?” Marinette hummed, tickling Bella’s neck. “Mari have you told your parents?” Marinette stiffened and a long moment passed before she shook her head. Bella rushed to assure that it was okay. They sat again for a long while, Bella managing to get Marinette’s promise that she’d tell her parents about Lila and her threats before the week ended. Bella almost called her parents and tell them she’d be having an impromptu sleepover, but Marinette had turned down the offer. 

“Thanks, but I already feel much better. And I have your number if things get bad again.” 

So Bella had instead called her parents to pick her up from the bakery, hanging out with Marinette and her parents until they arrived. On the way home Bella talked to her dad about the best way to collect evidence against a bully. That got her some worried looks, but she was quick to assure them the bully wasn’t hers. 

When they were home and Bella was up in her room, she texted Ley-Ley. In part to vent and part to see what his demonic take on the situation would be.

Bella: **Heyyyyyyyyy are you up?**

Ley-Ley: **Am now, what’s up?**

Bella: **I need to yell and also I need your demonic opinion.**

Ley-Ley: **Wait hang on, let me get angel in on this.**

Ley-Ley: **Okay, yell away**

Bella: **Okay SO. You remember sausage girl? Yeah she’s a ** ** _huge_ ** ** liar. Like, first day at school she claimed to know you before you’d gotten popular and you said you’d never met her, plus you’ve been popular since we were tiny babs. **

Bella: **So obviously she was lying but I figured, “what the hell, it’s not like that kinda lie would hurt anyone here.” so I left her alone.**

Ley-Ley: **Uh oh. This is looking bad already**

Bella: **But then I found out today that my friend Mari has not only been ** ** _threatened_ ** ** by sausage girl, she was nearly Akumatized because of her. **

Bella: **And to top it off, Mari’s crush knows that sausage girl is lying, but doesn’t know that she threatened Mari, and made Mari promise not to expose Liela because “doing so wouldn’t make her a better person.” **

Ley-Ley: **First of all, bullshit. Second of all, that’s not your friend’s job? If sausage girl is a bad person then ** ** _she_ ** ** is gonna have to be the driving force behind being a better person. **

Bella: **That’s what I said! And to make matters worse, the teachers at school are all whipped into favoring the bullies. Except Mrs. Mandeliev, but unfortunately we aren’t in her class.**

Ley-Ley: **WHAT?!? The teachers are supposed to help the kids ** ** _being_ ** ** bullied, not the other way around!**

Bella: **I know! What makes this ironic is the teacher told me outright to report if I saw anyone getting bullied. And then she turns around and tells the bullied kid to “be the better person” and keep letting the bully (Chloe) walk all over them. **

Ley-Ley: **Angel’s saying we should go to Paris and knock some sense into your school. **

Bella: **XD Please**

Bella: **In all seriousness though, it might be a good idea for at least you to come.**

Bella: **They know my uncle is one of the most popular gardening blogs in London, but I never told them you’re my uncle and they all heard the story of how Liela met the famous A.J. Crowley before he became a popular blog so having you show up and then deny ever meeting her would probably be a good start in tearing her web apart**

  
Ley-Ley: **Bella my sweet niece, I would be ** ** _happy_ ** ** to help you defend your friend. Aziraphale and I will be in Paris next week.**


	3. Proof and Deals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I live and Happy New Year!

The day her uncles arrived Miss Bustier assigned the class a group project. There were 4 people to a group and they had to pick a celebrity to make a presentation about. Bella ended up in a group with Alya, Alix and Nino. They decided to each suggest a favorite celebrity and then they’d pick a random one out of a hat. In the end they picked Nadia Chamack, Alya’s second choice after Ladybug. Bella had wanted to do Ley-Ley, partly because she was petty when she wanted to be and it would have been a good time to introduce the class to her celebrity and disprove one of Lila’s lies, but mostly because Ley-Ley was actually her favorite celebrity. But that got vetoed when Miss Bustier specified that it had to be a celebrity well known in France, and unfortunately Ley-Ley wasn’t really.

For the first few days it went well, then the three in Bella’s group started glaring at her and distancing themselves from her. Bella frowned at it, but they still got their presentation done and handed in before the deadline so she decided to leave it be. After that it was back to hanging with Marinette and her uncles until one day when Bella was sitting alone in the courtyard, smiling at her phone.

She was startled and angry when someone snatched her phone out of her hand. 

“What’re you smiling at Miss Rose? Find someone else to push around?”

It had been Alya who asked the question, but it was Alix who snatched the phone and was now reading through her messages with Azzy. All of which were about the excellent little restaurants he’d found and rediscovered and the audacity some people had, trying to buy his books.

Bella took a deep breath, fighting the urge to just snap her phone back. “What are you talking about Alya?”

“I’m talking about you and Marinette bullying Lila! What else would I be talking about?” 

“Do you really have full conversations with people without unlocking your phone?” Alix cut in when she reached the top of the message history.

“Yes I do. Can I have my phone back now?”

“Tell us why you’d bully someone as good as Lila first!” Alya took the phone from Alix and waved it Bella’s face, “After all that girl’s done for us and everything she has to deal with because of her conditions, why would you go out of your way to make things worse for her? And-”

“Where’s your proof?” Bella cut in.

Alya stuttered to a halt, “W-what?”

“Your proof,” Bella repeated calmly, making sure that nothing about her question could be taken as hostile. “Do you have any proof that Mari and I have been bullying Lila?”

Alya blinked and traded looks with the others who had joined her in confronting Bella.

“Well, no,” Nino said slowly.

One by one they all realized that they’d never actually seen any evidence of the things Lila claimed happened.

“Well you must be doing something!” Alya cried, “Lila wouldn’t just accuse you of something that never happened!”

“What is she accusing us of anyway?” Bella asked, genuinely curious, “You never got around to naming the offense.”

“She said Marinette stole some of her designs and you shoved her in the hall,” Alix spoke up, crossing her arms.

Bella crossed her arms and frowned thoughtfully. “Well, there was once when I accidentally bumped into her, maybe a few times I nudged her out of my way, but I’ve never outright shoved her. Also, you all know that Mari hates taking credit for other people’s work right? Why would she deliberately do something that goes against what she believes is fair for some designs that she could do herself?”

The three of them blinked. Even Alya had to admit that purposefully stealing something someone worked hard on was something Marinette would never do.

“Look, why don’t you go ask Lila which designs Mari stole? If it turns out Mari really did steal them on purpose I’ll do whatever you want for two days and then we’ll leave you and Lila alone.”

Alya narrowed her eyes at Bella and held out her hand. “Shake on it and it’s a deal.”

“Give me my phone back and I will.”

Alya placed the phone in Bella’s open palm. Bella shook Alya’s hand and watched as the group walked off, the crowd they had gathered dispersing as well. Bella sighed and used the rest of her time before class stared planning the next meal she wanted to try making for Mari and Azzy. After a moment she took out her phone and texted Mari about what had happened, giving her friend a heads up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know about other phones, but on mine you can choose to view the message and reply to it without actually unlocking the phone and so I decided Bella's does that as well.


	4. Career Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like it known that I have no idea what a career day is actually supposed to be like and I also have absolutely no knowledge of how blogs that aren't tumblr work

Bella’s first career day at Dupont would be on a day when neither of her parents could make it. Seeing an opportunity, Bella asked Miss Bustier if she could bring her uncle instead.

“He came to Paris recently and he’s in the same line of work as my mother.”

Miss Bustier thought for a minute, tapping her finger on the desk. “I’ll have to double check with Mr. Damocles, but you should be able to bring your uncle.” Miss Bustier smiled at Bella, “I’ll let you know what he says before class tomorrow.” 

Bella thanked the teacher and left, hoping that didn’t mean announcing it in front of the entire class. She didn’t mind it for something like this, but the way Miss Bustier made heavy personal announcements or callouts in front of everyone got under Bella’s skin. 

Sending her mom a quick text to let her know where she was going, Bella started walking to the apartment Ley-Ley and Azzy were renting while they were in Paris. When she got there she channeled her inner drama demon and threw the door open and flopping down on the nearest unoccupied chair. And then promptly sitting up properly because she’d flopped onto her backpack and something inside was digging into her back.

Azzy sighed and rolled his eyes while Ley-Ley chuckled at her antics. Bella carefully slip the offending pack off and put in on the floor next to her chair, flopping backwards again and pointing at Ley-Ley. 

“Today I have learned that career day is coming up at school and I have also discovered that neither of my parents can make it that day. So! I have asked my teacher if you could come instead since you and Mom do the same kind of work.”

“What did she say?” Azzy asked, carefully saving his place in the book he was currently devouring with a bookmark and putting the book down on the little table next to his chair.

“She said she’s gonna double check with the principal, but it should be fine. She’s gonna let me know before class tomorrow.” 

“I do believe I sense an opportunity here,” Ley-Ley grinned.

Bella grinned back, “You would be correct in that belief, uncle dearest.”

“What are you planning Bella?” 

Bella shrugged innocently. “Nothing really, I just thought that since Lila knows Ley-Ley and hasn’t seen him in a while she’d be happy to see him again.” 

Azzy shook his head, “Sometimes I’m surprised when you do things like this, and I don’t know why.”

“Mom blames it all on you two,” Bella replied as she moved to the table and started on her homework. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Bella got the okay from Miss Bustier and waited excitedly the day of for Ley-Ley to arrive. She was one of the few who didn’t come in with her parents, the others being Adrien, Juleka, Ivan and Lila. They all said their parents were too busy to make it, though Bella suspected that Lila simply hadn’t told her mother about career day at all.

“What about your parents Bella?” Ivan asked, “Are they also too busy?” 

“Well, my dad does the same thing Officer Raincomprix does, so they talked and decided that only one of them needed to come, and yeah. Mom’s too busy. But!” Bella continued cheerfully, “My uncles came to Paris recently so one of them’s coming in Mom’s place.” 

“Ooh! You mean the garden blogger uncle?” Alya asked excitedly. “Maybe I could get some blogging tips.” 

Bella thought that was unlikely, given how Ley-Ley just randomly posted things and got popular, but who knows. 

“Oh Alya, if you really want some blogging tips, I can contact A.J Crowley and see if he’d be willing to give you some,” Lila said just as the door opened and Ley-Ley walked in.

“Who’s contacting me for what?” He asked. 

Everyone turned to him, Bella and Marinette being the only two who knew who he was. Miss Bustier walked in before anyone got to asking what he meant though, so he shrugged and sauntered his way over to the desk Bella and Marinette shared in the back and waited for their turn while the others talked a bit about their jobs and some of them handed out some goodies. 

Bella heard a quiet snap behind her while Sabrina and her father were up and turned to look at Ley-Ley suspisiously. He looked the picture of practiced innocence, but he was holding a hand behind his back and there were green leafy things poking out from behind him that hadn’t been there when he walked in.

“Ley-Ley,” Bella hissed, turning back to the front. “Put that back.”

“Why?” He asked, “It’s one of mine.” 

“Yes, but you weren’t carrying it when you came in. They will notice that.” 

Ley-Ley huffed, but there was another soft snap and when Bella checked again both his hands were hanging out of his virtually non-existent pockets. Bella thanked him as Marinette shot her a puzzled look. Bella just shrugged, she’d explain later when they wouldn’t be in trouble if they were caught not paying attention to class.

When it was their turn, Bella smiled and followed Ley-Ley down to the front, standing next to him and waiting for things to happen.

“I’m afraid Bella hasn’t told us very much about you Mr…” Miss Bustier smiled at Ley-Ley, taking in his appearance. The  _ very _ tight jeans, the jacket, unfortunately not his trouble-making jacket, his shades and his hair. All in all, if Bella would hazard a guess, probably nothing at all like what her teacher expected. 

Ley-Ley smiled back. “Crowley. A.J Crowley. I run the Personal Eden blog.”

Murmurs filled the class. Marinette was the only person who had been introduced to Ley-Ley and therefore knew who he was. Bella watched as Alya lit up and nudged Lila, who was trying to shrink away from the excited girl. 

Ley-Ley went on to talk about how he fell into blogging rather by accident, and the differences in how he and Bella’s mother ran their blogs, and so on and so forth. Bella could practically see Alya bursting from the effort it took to wait until lunch to ask Ley-Ley all her questions, but her father was there and made sure she was paying attention, not interrupting to ask unnecessary questions. 

When lunch did roll around though, not even Lila could stop Alya from asking Ley-Ley all the questions that had been building during class. Marinette and Bella traded a look, shrugging and eating their lunch quietly while Alya and Ley-Ley talked. They had long finished and were just watching, waiting for The Question to be asked. They had drawn a crowd of sorts by now, so it wasn’t actually Alya who ended up asking. It was Mylène. Who had somehow managed to convince Lila to come along.

“...I met her when?” Was Ley-Ley’s response, clearly throwing everyone for a loop.

“B-before you were popular?” Rose asked hesitantly.

Ley-Ley frowned. “Exactly how old is the oldest person in your class?”

Someone answered that the oldest in class was fifteen. 

Ley-Ley shook his head. “I’ve never met you then. I’ve been running my blog for about 20 years and it started getting popular around the time all of you were  _ born. _ There’s no way I could have met her before my blog was popular.”

The room was silent as everyone who’d heard that let it sink in. Bella held her hands up next to her ears, waiting for the class to explode on Lila. 

Eventually Kim breaks the silence. “...What?”

Then everyone explodes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh, inspiration, how I've missed you.  
I have a discord! Come _Chat_ *wink wonk* __<strike>I'm sorry that was terrible<strike></strike></strike>  
https://discord.gg/dYFzPH6


	5. The Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this was gonna be a lot shorter than the last chapter, but then I looked and it's not actually that much shorter.

Bella didn’t remember much about the ensuing argument, the most she did remember was Alya leading Lila’s defense while most of the class yelled at her. The thing that stuck with her after it was all over was when everyone stopped yelling at each other and started scrambling to get away from something. 

Over by the wall where Mylène had slunk off to when the yelling started was a huge tangle of vines. There was a figure hidden in the middle of the tangle. When the figure looked up, Bella felt a hand grab her wrist and pull her away from the table. Instinctively, Bella reached out to grab Ley-Ley as well, the both of them stumbling over the bench and their own feet in their haste. They had almost made it out of the school gates before Bella registered that it was Nathaniel who’d grabbed her wrist and that Mylène had been Akumatized. 

“C’mon. We should get to a shelter before the Akuma figures out what it wants to do.” 

Ley-Ley nodded and started forwards to lead them to the Bentley, yelping and stumbling back when vines burst from the ground. Everyone in the courtyard watched in dismayed silence as the vines grew and twisted around the school walls. Over the roof too, blocking out the sun and trapping everyone who hadn’t been fast enough in getting away. 

Feeling small and scared, Bella gripped the back of Ley-Ley’s jacket. “Now what?”

Nathaniel shrugged, “Now we wait for Ladybug and Chat Noir to beat the Akuma.” 

Ley-Ley began grumbling under his breath about stupid magic villains and damnit this is definitely one way of growing plants but this way  _ sucks _ when people started yelling again. The vines had crept across the ground and were growing up, weaving themselves into smaller, personal cages. Most people were being separated by the vines, but Ley-Ley hugged Bella close and glared at the offending plants, daring them to  _ try _ and separate him from his niece. Bella hugged Ley-Ley tight, hiding her face and trying not to panic. She’d always hated the dark and now she was trapped in it. Ley-Ley running his fingers through her hair helped, but she was still shaking.

While the vines and their leaves blocked out what little light had managed to squeeze through the first cage, they couldn’t block out sound so they heard when Ladybug and her partner showed up soon after the personal cages had finished growing and the fight that followed. They heard how Mylène had felt when people started yelling at her, like  _ she _ had been personally responsible for Lila not knowing Crowley, they heard Ladybug call for her Lucky Charm, heard Chat Noir call for Cataclysm, saw the flash of pink ladybugs swarming by and reverting everything back the way it had been before. 

Bella stayed where she was for a long moment before she felt better enough to face the world again. Ley-Ley kept an arm around her as she turned to see Chat Noir comforting Mylène while Ladybug was talking to Alya. 

“Oh yeah,” Bella murmured, “Alya runs the ladyblog. I forgot.” 

Snippets of the conversation between Ladybug and Alya floated over to Bella and Ley-Ley. Wanting to hear it better without waiting for later on the blog, Bella moved closer to them.

“Gotta ask, because a good journalist always checks her sources, are you friends with Lila Rossi?” 

Ladybug took a deep breath, closing her eyes and letting it out through her nose. “No.” Ladybug opened her eyes and looked directly into the lense of Alya’s phone camera. “I am hardly even acquainted with her. I have met her more times as an Akuma than a civilian.”

Bella blinked. She’d thought that was the case, but there was something about Ladybug that was ringing massive bells. Bella knew that they'd never met before, they’d never even been within hearing distance of each other, but Ladybug sounded  _ so _ familiar. Looked familiar too and Bell could not put her finger on why.

“I’m glad you’re asking me now Alya, but I wish you would have done so before you put up that interview that claims she is my friend.” 

Alya looked conflicted, and maybe a little stung, but she didn’t try to push the topic any further. Ladybug gave Alya a small smile when her earrings beeped and swung away. Chat Noir followed right after, waving at the people in the courtyard from the roof before back-flipping away. 

Everyone sort of milled around, unsure if school would be continued or cancelled for the day. Ley-Ley took Bella to sit on one of the benches, rubbing soothing patterns on her shoulder while she rested her head on his. Alya was sitting on the stairs close by, frowning at her phone. 

Alix invited Alya to hang out with the girls, but the blogger declined. Said she had to go home and do some heavy research. 

“I hope that research has to do with Lila,” Bella remarked as they watched her leave with her dad. 

Ley-Ley squeezed her shoulder and nudged her into sitting up. “Let’s hope. Why don’t we pick up angel and go somewhere? Marinette can come along if she wants.” 

Bella smiled, “Before you agree Mari, he drives like a mad man.” 

Marinette laughed and agreed to go. She could tell Bella had been shaken by the attack and wanted to help cheer her up. Plus she liked talking with Aziraphale. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I stand firm in my belief that Marinette and Aziraphale would be great friends.
> 
> Come chat with me! https://discord.gg/gY9HGnJ


	6. Unexpected Conversations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *kicks door down* I’m back y’all! I know this isn’t the longest I’ve gone without updating, but it sure _felt like it_

It was a few weeks later while Bella and her uncles were out for a stroll when they came across an old man wearing a red hawaiian shirt. If it had been Bella by herself, she would have just smiled politely at him and walked on, but Ley-Ley stopped in his tracks and turned to stare at the old man as he walked away. 

“Crowley? What is it?” 

Ley-Ley frowned, “Something smells off. Don’t you smell it?” 

Bella glanced between her uncles and the old man, unable to smell anything. Not that she really expected to, she only had a regular human nose.

“Now that you mention it,” Azzy said slowly, knitting his brows. “There is something. And it’s somewhat familiar as well.” 

“What’s it smell like?” Bella asked. She was always curious about the things her uncles picked up on in the world that she couldn’t. 

“I’m not sure I can name it.” Ley-Ley answered, ”Angel’s right though, it is familiar.” 

Bella hummed. “Well, unless you want to follow him now, you should probably wait until we’re home to figure it out. We’re sorta blocking the path.” 

Azzy blinked, looking around and realizing she was right. “Very well then, let’s go home.”

Bella grinned, skipping ahead towards the apartment but got distracted by the display in a shop window. It was an antique store. Bella cooed at the things on display, just managing to keep from plastering her face to the glass like she used to do at Azzy’s shop in London.

“Now Bella,” Azzy chided teasingly. “You’re too old to adopt random shop owners anymore.”

Bella stuck her tongue out at him, “Am not. I’ll adopt as many random shop owners as I want to.”

Ley-Ley chuckled and tugged on the back of Bella’s hoodie to get her away from the window. “I’m sure you will, but we’re going home before you do.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later at the apartment, after Bella had gone back to her house Crowley suddenly slammed his hand on the table and stood up. Aziraphale started a little, but Crowley was talking before he could ask what had prompted the table slam.

“I figured it out! I remember what the old man smells like.”

Aziraphale raised an eyebrow, waiting for Crowley to continue.

“He smells like Heaven, before the Fall. And now that I’m thinking about it, Bella’s friend Marinette does too.” 

Aziraphale frowned thoughtfully for a moment before he realized that Crowley was right. “But they’re both human. Perhaps they’ve just been around something ethereal long enough for the scent to rub off on them.”

Crowley sat back down, bouncing his leg while he and Aziraphale talked about what they wanted to do about this. They may smell like Heaven, but they clearly weren’t  _ of _ Heaven and they weren’t doing anything to hurt anyone. 

In the end, they decided to leave the matter be unless Bella was put in danger. If they came across the old man again they might pursue it further. 

After that the topic changed to where to take Bella next, and then they reminisced the times they’d been to France before, then somehow they turned to talking about the Akumas. About how the Akumas were absolutely  _ awful _ to behold, how some of them had rather useless abilities honestly. That train of thought entertained them for quite a while, and then they got to drinking and they quickly devolved into laughing at each other’s attempts at words in general.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Crowley ran into the old man two weeks later. He was passing by a building with a few signs in front when the smell whacked him in the face. Leaning back to inspect the building, Crowley decided to follow the scent, see if he could figure out the source. He followed it up to the second floor, right up to a door with a sign for a massage parlor on it. He was about to knock, no sense in waiting, he could come up with a reason for being there after the door opened, when he heard Marinette’s voice. Instead of knocking, Crowley put his ear to the door and listened for a moment.

“-on’t understand why you won’t let Chat know. I mean! I understand, but, well, me and Chat are supposed to be  _ partners. _ Leaving him out of the loop like this feels… unbalanced.” 

There was a sigh and someone answered her quietly enough that Crowley couldn’t hear it. Crowley leaned against the wall next to the door as the information that Marinette was  _ Ladybug _ sunk in. And apparently her partner was being left out of things. This was too much all at once. Crowley didn’t do well with too much at once. Crowley ran a hand over his mouth, pushing off the wall and making a note of the address. He had to go home and talk this out with Aziraphale. Things usually made a bit more sense after talking them out with Aziraphale.

  
  


“You’re sure?” Aziraphale asked when Crowley finished telling him what he’d heard. 

“Sure as I can be Angel, it was Marinette in there.” Crowley poured himself a glass of alcohol, not paying much attention to what kind it was, and knocked it back. “She was saying that Chat Noir is her partner and he’s being left out of some loop or other.” 

Aziraphale frowned. Marinette was a sweet girl, and it sounded like there were quite a few heavy secrets she had to carry. 

“Do you think we could help her? They’re children going at it alone, it seems wrong to  _ not _ help if we know.”

Crowley nodded, it had never even crossed his mind to stand by and do nothing with this knowledge. 

“I’ll see if I can have a chat with the old man without anyone to overhear.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week later, Crowley headed up the stairs to the massage parlor. He’d called and scheduled ahead so he had a legitimate excuse to be there. He pulled out his phone to check that he wasn’t too early or too late before knocking on the door. The old man opened it and ushered Crowley inside with a friendly smile. There was some kind of traditional music playing from the gramophone and incense wafted through the air. Crowley thought it was a mix of jasmine and sandalwood. It was nice, pleasantly there but not nauseatingly heavy. There was the place where Crowley would lay down if he were to actually give into the temptation the whole place presented, but he was here for other reasons. Mainly the gramophone that smelled of heaven and asking what Marinette had been talking about last week.

Crowley has just opened his mouth to ask about the gramophone, it was a beautiful thing on its own, perfectly reasonable to remark on it, when a little green being flew out of the horn right into Crowley’s face. They blinked at each other for a second, an odd sense of recognition going through Crowley and a look of surprise on the little being’s face.

“Wayzz? Why did you come out?”

_ Wayzz. _ Crowley’s eyes widened behind his glasses. He remembered hearing that name in Heaven. In Hell too. Wayzz was one of the Kwamis, God’s project between angels and humans. Weren’t they supposed to be in a temple protected by the guardians? Why was the Miracle Box here, why was Wayzz out? 

_ Ladybug and Chat Noir. _

“Are you the guardian?” Crowley asked without turning around.

Wayzz didn’t look away either, but he nodded, signaling to the old man that he could tell the truth. Crowley wasn’t sure what he’d have done if the old man lied to him.

“Yes, I’m Fu, the guardian of the box.”

“What happened to the temples? And the rest of the guardians?”

Fu shuffled his feet a bit. Crowley thought he could smell something like guilt coming from him.

“...The temples were destroyed, along with the other guardians. I was the sole survivor.”

Crowley finally turned to look at Fu, taking in his appearance. His hands were behind his back, his feet were planted and he stood straight, though Crowley noticed Fu was having a hard time looking right at his glasses.

“What happened.”

Fu shifted again, taking longer to answer. “A sentimonster ran amok, destroying the temple and causing the loss of the Butterfly and Peacock miraculous.”

“Nooroo’s current holder is the one attacking Paris,” Wayzz added. “We believe they have Doosoo as well.”

Crowley drew in a deep breath through his nose. He’d been in Paris long enough to know that Hawkmoth, the apparent wielder of the Butterfly, was after the Ladybug and Black Cat. The very two miraculous that Fu had deliberately put out into the world.

“Tell me Fu. I know the guardians had a very good training period. Did you finish yours?”

Fu shook his head, eyes firmly on the floor. He’d begun to shake a little and Crowley felt he should take some amount of pity on him. Crowley breathed again, counting to ten. When he finished he ordered Fu to tell him everything that had happened since losing the miraculous.

The more Fu explained, the angrier Crowley became. It was a good thing he could snap and keep the butterflies away from him, otherwise Hawkmoth might have acquired his strongest Akuma yet.

When Fu was finished Crowley was vibrating with barely controlled anger and Fu was shaking like a leaf. Crowley wanted to lash out at something, maybe breath some Hellfire again. But Fu was only human, Crowley couldn’t fault him for that. 

“Tell them.”

Fu looked up in shock while Crowley glared back. “Tell Marinette and her partner everything you just told me.” Crowley held up a finger when Fu opened his mouth to protest. Or maybe ask how he knew about Marinette. “I understand that you’re scared, but if you don’t tell them they will drift apart and Hawkmoth will get his hands on one of them. I will find Chat Noir and tell them myself if I have to, but you have to tell them.”

Wayzz spoke up from where he was perched on Fu’s shoulder. “Are you sure that’s wise? Ladybug herself knowing is already a risk.”

“Why is it wiser to burden one with all the secrets and keep the other in the dark about everything?” Crowley shot back. “A power gap like that is bound to have negative effects for everyone in Paris. Are you willing to risk that?”

Wayzz didn’t answer, glancing at Fu worriedly. “May I ask why this is so important to you?”

Crowley bit his lip in frustration. After all this they still had to ask what was wrong?

“First of all, Marinette is my niece’s best friend in Paris, her only friend in France. How could I stand by while her friend is in trouble? Secondly,  _ you are sending a  _ ** _child_ ** _ with no training into battle. _ Two children who know nothing of the history of their miraculous! Why  _ wouldn’t  _ it be important to me that they get the help they need?”

Wayzz looked away, a stricken expression on his face. It seemed like Crowley had finally gotten through to one of them at least. Fu was still shaking, but he was shaking his head now as well.

“Why not?” Crowley snapped. Any patience he’d had for the man wore out ages ago.

“what if I fail again?” Fu asked in a small voice. The words punched Crowley in the gut. While he may not like them, Fu’s actions suddenly made much more sense. 

“You won’t. Angel and I will make sure of it.”

Fu looked up, searching Crowley’s face. Whatever he found stilled his shakes and he took a deep breath, determination crossing his face. 

“I will tell them tomorrow. After school.”

Crowley smiled. “Good. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go home.”

Crowley has to update Aziraphale on what had happened today. And drink. A lot. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason this took so long <strike>other than starting another gosh danged wip</strike> is because my computer broke so I had to write it all on my phone. I’m posting here on my phone too, it’s odd.
> 
> Come chat in my discord with me! https://discord.gg/dYFzPH6


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